From the Publisher...
How BYTE Started

By Wayne Green
BYTE Issue #1 September 1975
Pages 9 and 96

Published on August 6, 1975.

Two series of events came together and triggered BYTE. One was the surprising
response I received from the readers of 73 Magazine (amateur radio) every time I
published an article involving computers. Being a curious person I decided to
learn more about them, only to find my way blocked by formidable obstacles. The
more I tried to dig into the subject the more I found that there was a need for
information that was not being satisfied.

The other event was the success of 73, with more subscriptions and advertising
calling for some sort of computerization of the drudgery - the billing, record
keeping, reader's service, indexing, and such. I knew what I wanted done and had
a good idea of what I had to spend to accomplish this, so I started talking to
computer salesmen ... only to find that I wasn't even able to read their
literature, much less have even a vague idea of what they were saying.

Some deep well of obstinacy within me fought back and refused to let me throw a
dart to pick out the computer system I needed. I felt that as a businessman
running a good sized small business and as the editor and publisher of an
electronics magazine, I damned well should be able to come to grips with the
salesmen and pick out a computer system on some sort of rational basis. But the
more I tried to get information, the more I realized that it was going to be
very hard to get.

Between my professional need to understand computers and my amateur interest in
the subject I found myself subscribing to one newsletter after another .. .
talking at exhaustive length with computer savvy 73 readers ... reading books
... and wearing computer salesmen out. I discovered an interesting thing - few
of the hardware chaps could talk software - and vice versa. Further, neither
could talk much about applications.

There ought to be a magazine covering the whole thing, thought I. A magazine
which would help the neophite to grapple with programming languages . . . would
permit the beginner to build microcomputers and peripherals ... would provide a
dialog for the more sophisticated to communicate as well. How about a
publication which would cover all aspects of small computer systems?

As the computer hobby newsletters arrived I looked them over. Some were very
well done, some pretty juvenile. One chap was doing a splendid job ... designing
his own hardware ... developing software . . . plus writing and publishing a
monthly magazine on the subject just about single handed. This was Carl Helmers
and his ECS Journal, which was in its fifth issue, having just started in
January (this at the time being May). I got together with Carl and explained my
idea and suggested that it was time to get a good professional magazine going in
the field, one which would help computer hobbyists get the information they
needed and which might thus encourage manufacturers to come out with more
hardware for the growing body. (Carl Helmers wrote a letter to his friends at
the Micro-8 newsletter tell them of this meeting. This excerpt is from
the June 27, 1975 issue. From
Jim Kearney's collection.)

Carl had been building up his circulation to ECS gradually, with it being about
300 in May. We figured to go all out and run off 1000 copies of the first issue
of BYTE - make it a 24 pager. After talking the idea over with a couple of the
manufacturers in the field it was obvious that we had been thinking too small.
Okay, let's make it 5000 copies. The first announcement of the project was made
in Hotline, an amateur radio newsletter with a very small circulation. The
reaction was immediate: subscriptions began to come in at a good clip.

As mailing lists came in from manufacturers and as the word spread, the first
issue print run was upped to 10,000 . . . then 25,000 . . . 35,000 ... and
finally 50,000 copies! As promises of ads came in there was a scramble to get
enough articles to keep up with the ads. Ads are certainly of interest, but we
didn't want to publish an all advertising magazine.

No apologies are needed for the articles in this first issue - between Carl's
contacts and mine we got things started. It would have been a lot easier if our
original idea of a 1000 copy 24 page magazine (with maybe 30% ads) had come
about. On the other hand, here is a great opportunity for all of you readers to
get busy at your typewriter and pass along your particular area of expertise.
The need for good articles is great ... material for the rank beginners as well
as the sophisticated computer designers . . . hardware ... software ... surplus
conversions... applications.

As we build a body of hobbyists, the market for reasonably priced equipment will
be almost inexhaustible . . . microprocessors, video display units, keyboards,
tape gear, discs, teletypes . . . endless list. MITS, RGS, Scelbi and Southwest
Tech have a good start . . . are you going to let them make all the money?
Speaking of MITS et al, it didn't take me long to get one of the Altair 8800s to
see what I could do with it. I'm afraid I didn't make it very far into the
instruction book. I've got some more memory coming for it as well as their
extended basic program and some I/O interfaces to hook onto a teletype or a VDT.
I do have a VDT unit up and working ... the Southwest Technical job which we got
in kit form and which was assembled over a weekend on a card table, with a good
deal of the work being done by my 12 year old daughter. And, believe it or not,
the unit works! We all agree that it was a lot of fun to assemble and we're glad
we went the kit route ... we wouldn't have missed the fun. SWTPC sure did a
fantastic job of getting that kit designed and produced.

Well, that's how BYTE got started. Now it's up to you . . . you can guide the
magazine with your advice . . . with your articles . . . and with your support
in getting more subscribers. We'll do all we can to make the magazine accurate,
have plenty of interesting ads, look nice and come out on time. None of this is
easy, of course, but we're in one of the nicest areas in the country - in
southern New Hampshire - working in a 220 year old colonial mansion - and we
have an efficient system where everything except printing and mailing of the
magazine is done under the one roof. If you happen to find yourself wandering
around a bit northwest of Boston, why please drop in and say hello. We're very
friendly and the atmosphere is unbelievably relaxed ... except near press time.

The September 1976 issue (page 4) has this: "That first issue was
assembled in seven weeks of hectic activity starting May 25, 1975"

The Copyright records before 1978 are stored on 3 by 5 index cards at
the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Here is a picture of the
cards files. This
index card shows the first issue
(September 1975) was published on August 6, 1975 and this
index card shows issues 2 through 9.
The second issue (October 1975) was published on September 15, 1975.